TAZKS
by a tortoise
Summary: Sokka,Katara, and Zuko are fighting again, what's a monk got to do to get some peace around here!
1. Chapter 1

-1**Read and critique, and if you're not a fan of Zutara or Taang, don't be a retard. Save yourself the trouble of getting in an argument with me that you wont win.**

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They were at it again.

Honestly, ever since Zuko had decided to join the group, he, Sokka, and Katara had done nothing but fight. It was always the same too, Zuko would be sitting and minding his own business (or angsting, Aang never really could tell) anyway, he would be sitting there, Katara would come over, they would start talking about Avatar knows what, then Sokka would come over and start yelling at him to stay away from his sister. Katara would fight back and Zuko would join and it always ended up going to how he had hunted them down before and how they "couldn't possibly trust a dirty fire bender".

Always.

And seriously, Aang was tired of it.

That night, he snuck away and crawled over to Toph's earth-tent and reached out to tap the side.

"what d'ya want twinkle toes?" her annoyed voice drifted out to greet him with about as much warmth and kindness as Katara's water whip.

"uh, well…" he stammered, suddenly unsure.

The front of the tent slid into the ground and the girl stared at him, "spit it out, I'm tired."

"could…could I come in there with you? They're fighting again." he asked, hoping she wouldn't feel his blush, but knowing she did.

"is that all? Well sure! Come on in! we'll have our own little tea party!" she said with a huge smile on her face.

"really?!" he cried happily.

"no." the fake smile dropped from her face and was replaced by a surly glare, and before his brain quite registered what was happening, the door slammed up in his face.

"aw come on!" he fell to his knees and clawed at the rock walls, " Don't make me go back there! They'll drag me into it and I can't side with Sokka because Zuko's my teacher and I can't side with Zuko because Sokka's been with me since the beginning and I can't side with Katara because of the other two and-"

"ALRIGHT!" Toph yelled and the tent slammed open again. If it had only been lighter outside, he might have seen the blush spreading across the bridge of her nose. "just get in here and shut up."

Aang's smile rivaled that of Iorh's at a pai sho game with tea as he crawled into the tent with the small but powerful girl. The door closed again and they curled up and went to sleep protected by the nice, sound-proof earth walls.

.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.

"OH YEAH?! WELL -" Katara saw Aang go into the tent and cut off her brother. "he went in?" Sokka asked quietly and turned to look. She nodded, and she laughed softly when Zuko sank to the floor and moaned, "finally! And it only took, what, two weeks?"

"well," she sat down beside him, "at least it happened."

"yeah. Spirits, I think I might have just thrown him in if it went on any longer" Sokka agreed, then looked over at his sister and Zuko, who were sitting next to each other, not touching or talking.

Then he looked closer. He saw that, even though they weren't touching, or even looking at each other, they seemed to be completely focused on one another. When one moved, even the slightest bit, so did the other. When Katara got up to get her sleeping sac, Zuko stood up and followed her. When they came back, he sat down first, then she sat next to him, just as before.

To Sokka, it seemed that they were like a planet and it's moon, though which was which, he couldn't tell.

Katara spread her sleeping sac out and sat on it, motioning for Zuko to do the same. When he did, Sokka's eyes narrowed, "but seriously. Stay away from my sister."

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**This is my first Avatar fic. Which is kind of odd because I went completely OCD over ZK, but ended up writing an AT fic. But as you can see towards the end…I couldn't resist. .___.**

**p.s. this story takes place in a non-cannon setting. Please don't ask where or when it is.**

**p.p.s. let's play that fun game, Guess the reference! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

-1**This story was bothering me, a lot. I wrote it with the intent of Taang, yet it ended up Zutara. Not that that's a bad thing…but it doesn't seem to end what it started.**

**So this is a chapter two. Or a sequel. Whatever you want it to be. This is mostly going to be my own musings on that confounding thing called love (lol, that sounded like bad song lyrics), so if it doesn't really make sense, I'm sorry.**

**Okay, I'll shut up now.**

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Inside the earth tent, curled up next to the most powerful earthbender in the world, Aang stared at the darkness and thought about, of all things, his love life.

How he so badly wanted to be with Katara, who would never love him the way he did her. He wasn't as clueless as he pretended to be. He knew what was going on between her and Zuko, but he could let himself react to it because he had never found the courage to tell her he loved her.

"You snooze you loose." as Sokka had once oh so poetically put it.

When he first saw that something between them, his heart had twisted and warped so badly, he seriously considered asking Katara if she could heal it. But there was the irony…she had caused it.

He'd told Toph about it eventually, and she'd been surprisingly sympathetic. She even told him about her old crush on Sokka, she'd threatened him with death in a landslide if he ever told anyone, but it still meant a lot that she'd told him in the first place.

"Hey we can be heartbreak buddies." he'd said with a sigh and a tight throat.

"Stop beating yourself up over it. That's what I'm here for." she'd said with a punch to his shoulder.

"yeah well, I'd at least had a chance before Zuko showed up." he replied grimly as he rubbed his throbbing shoulder.

"believe it or not, I felt the same way when Suki suddenly turned up. There's no easy way to get over it, but you're gonna have to. You know what they say, 'you can't save the world on a broken heart.'"

"who said that?"

"me. Pay attention twinkle-toes, you might miss something important."

Aang rolled over and looked at Toph. She seemed so peaceful asleep, cute even. He noticed that some of her hair had fallen into her face, he reached out and carefully brushed it back behind her ear.

Her hand shot up and grabbed his wrist. Aang froze, praying to every spirit who's name he could remember that he would at least be able to walk when she was done with him. But then she pulled him closer and hugged his arm close to her like it was a stuffed puppy-cat.

It was quite nice really. She was so cute when she was sleeping.

Just as he thought that, Toph rolled over and smacked him in the face.

'Monkey-feathers! I think she broke my jaw!' he thought as he experimentally moved his jaw around. 'well, seems okay, I guess I'll have…uh, Her look at it tomorrow.' just saying Katara's name sent a stab of pain into his heart.

He looked down at Toph and realized that she hadn't taken her hand off his face.

She frowned a bit and moved her other hand to his face. She felt around until her thumbs rested on his cheekbones, just below his eyes, and her warm palms lay on his cheeks.

Her face relaxed and she lowered her arms, scooting closer to him, nuzzling into his chest.

He cautiously wrapped his arms around her, ready to make a run for it should things take a turn for the worst. (read: Toph wakes up) instead she snuggled further into the warm monk. He smiled at her, 'maybe…' he thought, 'maybe you don't need to stop loving someone to start loving someone else. How else would a family work? Does a father have to stop loving his wife to start loving his children?

He would always love Katara. There was nothing he could do abut that. But perhaps he could make room for Toph in his heart, too.

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**Ah, so cute. It made me smile just writing it. Hope it does the same for you.**

**Yes I know it's short. Think of it as a sort of alternate ending.**


End file.
